


The Magician

by yujohn



Category: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Genre: M/M, Modern Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-30 23:05:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19413289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yujohn/pseuds/yujohn
Summary: Dante Quintana knows something is up.Aristotle Mendoza never done this before, whatever this is. Go out running for hours and not so much as shoot a text his way. Or go to the dessert by himself to look at stars and -- Dante's chest is tightening at the thought of something being wrong with Ari.





	The Magician

Dante Quintana knows something is up. 

Aristotle Mendoza never done this before, whatever this is. Go out running for hours and not so much as shoot a text his way. Or go to the dessert by himself to look at stars and -- Dante's chest is tightening at the thought of something being wrong with Ari. 

Gnawing at his nails, Dante spared another glance at the clock on the kitchen wall. Tick. He narrowed his eyes. Tick. Moved to bite at the nails on his other hand. Tick. 

"Fuck!" He pulls his finger away from his mouth where he nicked it with his teeth. He scowled at the offending finger, now a bright red. Just then, the door opened, and Aristotle walked in -- towel around his neck and empty water bottle in his hand. 

"Where the hell were you?" Ari looked to Dante and furrowed his eyebrows. _"Running."_ His voice sounded tight, like he could hardly breathe around the words in his mouth and throat and chest. Dante hoped that if Ari could hardly breathe, he'd _say something,_ much like he would if they'd been swimming the year Dante taught him. 

Only Dante's voice didn't sound funny, he wasn't allergic to the air, there were no shitty lifeguards, and they weren't laughing at their names. There certainly wasn't any water threatning to fill Ari's lungs.

Sad did, though. Threaten to fill Ari's lungs and drown him. Only sad. Ari was always kind of sad, now.

Dante would have pressed further, but saw the look in Ari's eye. Distant. He saw the tear tracks on his flushed cheeks and the way his hair stuck out in tufts; much like he'd been pulling on it. "Hey.. Are you alright?"

Ari huffed, walking past Dante to throw away his water bottle. "Tired," he murmured quietly. He stood still at the trashcan. Dante walked up behind him, touched his shoulder. "Totle," he called gently. "Do you want to go to bed?" Ari looked to him with sad eyes. "I need to shower. You won't like it if I get in bed sweaty." 

"Think I can let it slip this once," Dante said. He intertwined his fingers with Ari's, pulling him. "Come on." 

Ari looked grateful, but didn't say anything. Dante would take it.

Leading Ari to their bedroom, Dante made sure to spare glances at Ari every few seconds. "I'm not going to disappear," Ari teased quietly. That was good, teasing. He smiled. "Yeah, not with me watching you. I know you're some kind of magician, Mendoza." Ari chuckled at that.

Once they were in the room, Dante let go of Ari's hand and let him go sit on the bed. "Go on, lay down. I have homework to finish up so I'll be in the chair right over here," Dante pointed to the rocking chair in the corner, "and I'll talk to you. Bug you all you'd like." Ari hummed. "Sounds lovely." He laid back in the bed, throwing an arm over his eyes. Dante tapped his knee lightly before he padded over to the rocking chair.

They sat in silence for a while. Maybe an hour. Dante was overwhelmed with the quiet -- ready to ask Ari what had been wrong and where he was for so long. It would take time.

"Look." 

Aristotle Mendoza lifted his arm from over his eyes to peer at Dante where he sat in the chair in the corner of Ari's room. Clad in a wet t-shirt and shorts, with his face bright red from exasperation, Ari knew he looked horrible -- miserable, even. Dante trying to annoy him right now was nothing but cruel and unusual punishment.

"Look?" Ari said. Dante motioned for Ari to get up. "Come here." With a pained look, Ari shook his head. "Absolutely not. Let me lay here to pass in peace." Dante frowned at him, eyebrows furrowed. "You aren't  _ dying." _ Aristotle rolled his eyes, sitting up to ask him, "How do you know?" 

Dante stared at him for a moment. He blinked. "I just know." 

Ari scoffed, loudly. "That's incredible. How long have you had your degree in medicine, Doc?" And damn Dante Quintana to hell, his laugh at that is so sweet and genuine and Ari hates him. He absolutely hates Dante with his entire being.

"I've had it for, like, ever." Ari hums, putting his arm back over his flushed face with a nod. "For, like, ever -- huh? That come with an English degree?" "Oh, of course!" "Of course," Ari murmurs quietly. "How silly of me to ask." 

Dante doesn't say anything after that, and the room is quiet in a comfortable way. Ari even almost starts to fall asleep, until he feels his bed sink a little. There are fingers in his hair, threading through the mess on his head and he gives a grunt. "Go 'way, Dante. You're gonna whine about getting sweaty later." "Shut up. Maybe if you showered." 

The hand in his hair doesn't stop petting, so Ari dismisses it. Instead, he lays there and lets Dante comb his hand through his hair sweetly. He lets Dante bend down to press a kiss to his forehead, and lets Dante's other hand trail under his wet shirt to rub at his back soothingly. He lets Dante be there, and he lets himself believe that it is enough.

"Sleepy?" Dante's voice is gentle. Ari breathes out, heavy, nodding against Dante's lap as the boy above him tsks. "Shouldn't overwork yourself so much. You're huge already." "Gotta maintain it," Ari mumbled. He didn't have to be looking to know Dante was rolling his eyes. 

Lulling his head up, he looked to Dante. Dante, whose hair was short and skin was fair and who's smile was stupid. Dante Quintana, the Stupid Boy. "Why are you staring?" "What did you want to show me?" Ari said. Dante smiled down at him -- there was that stupid smile -- and pinched his cheek too hard for Ari's liking. "Nothing. Sleep." Ari put his head back down, heaved a sigh. 

"Didn't feel well. That's why I went running." "I figured." Dante said. "I'm sorry that I worried you." Dante leaned down and kissed Ari's head once more. "I know, Angel. It's alright." Ari tried to will back the welling of his eyes. "We can talk about it tomorrow. Want to sleep." He tugged on Dante's shirt, looking up at him. "Finish your homework so we can sleep, geek." Dante scoffed. "I can finish tomorrow, let's lay down, yeah?" 

Dante went to move so he could situate them comfortably, but stopped when Ari grabbed his forearm. "Dante," Ari said quietly. He waited for Dante to respond, a hushed  _ 'Yeah, Angel?'  _ before he spoke again. "Thank you. I mean it." 

Dante smiled that genuine smile, nodding once. "Of course." 

**Author's Note:**

> i have been working on this forever and i only just finished lmao


End file.
